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For Glaus, a solo home run

One and done for Glaus in HR Derby

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By Mark Bowman
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MLB.com |

PITTSBURGH -- At least this time, Troy Glaus provided one fan with a souvenir.

Competing in his second Home Run Derby on Monday night at PNC Park, Glaus made some progress. But after hitting just one home run, Glaus was eliminated from the event, which he had looked forward to throughout the past week.

"It's a fun event," Glaus said as he spoke to reporters on Monday afternoon. "I think the biggest thing is trying not to do too much and not trying to swing too hard."

A few hours later, Glaus' plan didn't work much better than it did in the 2001 Home Run Derby, during which he was shut out. At least this year, he belted a 450-foot homer before recording his 10th out of the first round.

"He's one of those guys whose fly balls just keep going and going and going," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said of Glaus, who has already belted 23 homers this season.

Unfortunately for Glaus, he wasn't able to produce many of those fly balls. Many of his outs were recorded with grounders down the left-field line.

After opening his round with a fly ball that hit off the center-field wall, Glaus came back to drill his one homer deep over the left-field wall and onto the third level of the stadium's ramp.

"Everybody wants to see the ball go 480 or 490 feet," Glaus said. "But it doesn't count any more than the one that goes 380. It's just about putting a consistent swing on it."

Before the eight-man event began, Glaus said he wasn't concerned that participating would have a negative effect on him when he the regular season resumes. Last year's Derby champion, the Phillies' Bobby Abreu, has hit just 14 homers in the 158 games he's played since earning the crown.

"The way I've been swinging right now, it really doesn't matter," said Glaus, whose homer on Sunday afternoon in the first-half finale was just his second in the past 17 games. "It might get me going. That's what I'm going with."

Mark Bowman is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.